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The owner of Upper Crust and Caffe Ritazza says it could cut as many as 5,000 jobs following a dramatic fall in passengers at railway stations and airports during the coronavirus pandemic.
SSP saw its sales almost entirely wiped out in April and May, with revenue figures down by around 95%.
Despite a slight recovery in June, sales were still around 90% lower than usual.
The company – which has 570 sites at at railways stations and airports in the UK and Ireland – said it only expects around a fifth of its locations to open by the autumn, with travel expected to remain at very low levels amid the Covid-19 crisis.
SSP has launched a consultation on a restructure to “simplify and reshape” the business in the face of the pandemic, which it said could lead to more than half of its 9,000-strong peak season workforce being laid off.
The group said head office and UK staff would be affected by the cuts.
Chief executive Simon Smith said: “In the UK the pace of the recovery continues to be slow.
“In response to this, we are now taking further action to protect the business and create the right base from which to rebuild our operations.
“Regrettably, we are starting a collective consultation which will affect our UK colleagues.
“These are extremely difficult decisions, and our main priority will be to conduct the process carefully and fairly.”
SSP runs travel sites for chains such as Burger King, M&S Simply Food and Starbucks, as well as its own brands including Millie’s and Upper Crust.
It also has operations in 35 countries across the world.
The firm has so far not launched any “material” restructuring in its other global operations, as it believes there will be a faster bounce back outside the UK.
Smith added: “The objective of the action that we are proposing today is to ensure that we manage through this pandemic, rebuild our business as demand recovers and, in time, deliver long term sustainable growth for the benefit of all our stakeholders.”
He added the group will keep open the possibility of opening more sites if it sees sales improve over the summer.